Dark Souls
by Overlord Darkmoon
Summary: Robin is forced to be the bearer of the Banrikou, now he only has one year to live as demons and devils and other kinds of monster seek to devour his heart. A mysterious ally comes to his aid, but with origins shrouded in darkness...: Pairings: Robin/OC Semi-Rob/Rav. Rated M for extreme violence, gore, adult language and adult content.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own the show Teen Titans, they are the property of DC Comics/CN. No profit is being made in the making of this story. It is purely for entertainment purposes. Only claim of right is the following OC: Ying. **

**A/N: Greetings everyone. Here's another one for you to sink your teeth into. This is another spin on a dark Titan-theme…because let's face it, there never is enough of them and never will be. So maybe this might inspire others to make the attempt, who knows, I'm just putting that thought out there. And for anyone wondering this is **_**Forsaken**_** talking, and I'm working on my own spin from Darklost's "Sabbat Rising". Let's see which one hits off more, hmm? But let's see what you guys think, so here we go! **

**xXx**

**Dark Souls**

**Chapter 1**

It felt like any other normal day for Robin. He woke up, he showered, he up on a fresh outfit and made his way out to wake up his teammates so they could beginning their morning training. Afterwards, they had breakfast, talked about their usual things, then they broke off to do their own thing for the day. One odd thing that did happen was when Robin asked his girlfriend, Starfire, if she wanted to go out and do anything later. She politely declined, stating that she promised she and Raven would be heading out to the mall in a while. He took no offense, naturally. He was glad that the two were starting to act more like close friends.

Honestly, he wasn't that disappointed as he thought. It meant he had the day to do what he wanted and he had a plan in mind should he ever get a free day. That almost changed, though, when they suddenly got a call from Speedy, asking for a little back up support for Titans East, as they were about to tangle with a new threat attacking Steel City. Robin was going to have the entire team to come aid their eastern coast team, but then Starfire suddenly volunteered to go help, and zoomed out before anyone could say anything.

Deciding that if things did get too much for them to handle, Starfire would call the rest of the team, so Robin and the other Titans went about their normal business. Taking that a good chance to continue what he originally planned, Robin went back to his room and chanced out of Robin outfit. He switched into civilian clothes: a pair of black boots, blue denim jeans, and a plain red shirt with a black hoodie over it. He un-gelled his hair, styling it so his spiked locks were swept down, and then put on a pair of black sunglasses. It wasn't often that he got out of his Robin suit and walked about as Richard Grayson. He didn't bother check with the others. He normally didn't when he got out of his Robin outfit.

Beast Boy would want to tag along, wanting to know what he was up to, and Cyborg naturally would come, wanting to join in on the fun. What neither realized at times was that it would look odd for Richard to be seen with two members of the Teen Titans. It wouldn't take people very long to realize who he really was and then his identity would be compromised. Raven wasn't a thought. She much preferred to spend time alone and as she was saved from a trip to the mall, Raven would no doubt spend her day reading her books. So with that in mind, Richard snuck down to the Vehicle Bay. Walking over to where his R-Cycle was, he went over to a control panel next to it, and pushed a button.

The R-Cycle descended down on the platform it was resting on, and then shifted to the side. Sliding in place was a more modern, conventional motorcycle, a Kawasaki series, and rose up. Once its platform locked into place, Richard hopped onto the cycle, putting on a plain black helmet with a tinted visor. He revved the machine up and tore out of the Vehicle Bay at high velocity as a tunnel opened that would lead him under the sea and into a secret exit near the harbor, keeping anyone from seeing a civilian leaving Titans Tower and guessing who it might be.

Slowing down and stopping only when he arrived at the exit of the secret tunnel, he waited until the scanners attached to the exit made sure no one was close, then opened up for Richard to ride out. He quickly zoomed off, the entrance closing quickly behind him and looking like a plain old brick wall of a building. Once he hopped onto the main road, he went straight to the mall, buzzing around everyone on the highway and easily slipping into the parking lot. Even as Richard Grayson, he loved to get his daily doses of adrenaline riding always provided. Being a superhero provided many opportunities to meet his daily adrenaline quota. As a civilian, it was risker as he had to try and stay within the law's strict rules…which was why he was so glad he wasn't just a civilian.

Hopping off his cycle, he made his way into the mall and headed for the one store he had been looking forward to visiting for a while now: Gamestop.

Strolling into the store, he smiled in greeting when he saw the store's manager working happily and hard as ever at work, Ying. She was of Asian descent, maybe Japanese if Richard had to guess. Like everyone in the store, she wore the store's T-shirt logo, but wore cargo pants and thick boots. Her black hair was done up in two ponytails, each end dyed in azure highlights. Around her neck was a ankh chained necklace. Her lips were painted black and they split into a wide smile when she spotted him walking up to the counter.

"Hey, Rick. Been a while since I've seen you in here. I was starting to think you had abandoned my store for another," Ying teased as she placed her hands on her curvy hips.

"Sorry, Ying. I've been busy with a lot of…work. I'll try to make more time to come and stop by," Richard apologized, scratching the back of his head.

Ying waved it off. "Nah, it's okay. If that last game you bought was any reason, then I know you'd probably just been too absorbed into it."

"Yeah, Skyrim is time consuming," Richard replied with a grin. "Speaking of games, I'm here to pick up those copies that I ordered over the phone."

"Oh, right!" Ying exclaimed, checking the computer for his order and then turned around and opened one of the cabinet drawers, pulling out the wanted items and then placing them down on the counter in front of Richard. "Okay, we have Final Fantasy 14: A Realm Reborn, Pokémon Y, Yveltal for the win...Any games you want coming up you want to go ahead and reserve?"

"Yeah, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 and Titanfall," Richard said as he looked up at the ads.

"Vampire gamer, huh? Never thought you were that type," Ying teased, a hint of intrigue in her eyes.

Richard looked down bashfully and shrugged. "Always been a fan of that series, one of the few better vampire games they've managed not mess up."

"Oh god, tell me about it. Legacy of Kain was badass…but now this Nosgoth thing coming up. They better not have fagged it, or heads…will…roll," Ying said, gritting her teeth and hunching over as she raised her tiny fist up into the air.

"Hopefully they won't ruin it," Richard said.

Ying shrugged. "They could do worse…like Brink."

Both shuddered at the mention of that game.

"That was a waste of money…and time…and life I could have spent doing something else better," Ying uttered.

"Tell me about it…my friends and I were so psyched for it, too. Then the utter disappointment," Richard remarked, slouching some. "We kept thinking there would be more…but there wasn't…so much hope, lost."

"Oh my god!" Ying groaned, leaning on the counter, resting her head on her hands. "The disappointment still haunts me to this day."

Richard laughed and readjusted his sunglasses. "Hopefully, there won't be a repeat of those kinds of games. So how much do I owe?"

Ying snapped back to business and rung up the full price. He glanced at the numbers and pulled out his credit card and handed it to her. As Ying took it to check that it matched his account she had in their system, she gave it back and told him to swipe it. After he did, she started bagging his two purchases. "I really like it when you come in here. You never flinch or stare at the prices after the total is brought up. Must be nice being rich like that."

"What makes you think I'm rich?" Richard asked.

"Seriously? Richard Grayson, the adopted son of Gotham's Prince, Bruce Wayne. How would one not know you?" Ying retorted.

Richard held up his hands in defeat. "Fair enough."

"Since we're on the subject, why is a rich kid like you living here in Jump City and not with Bruce Wayne back in Gotham?" Ying asked, genuinely curious, leaning her elbows on the counter and putting her chin in her hands.

"…Things were getting kinda out of hand. What with the sporadic rate crime has been increasing in Gotham. Bruce thought it would be dangerous for me to be in the city…so here I am," Richard said with a straight expression. That was the official cover story he and Bruce worked out after he decided to go solo and headed to Jump City. He took his bag and waved at Ying, thinking now was a good time to make a hasty exit before she tried drilling him for more answers. "I'll see ya when my pre-orders are in! Later, Ying!"

She waved idly back but he was already out the door. "Hmm, that guy is always on the move…" she murmured to herself and then was about to get back to work, when she suddenly paused and her eyes widened a fraction when she caught a shadow moving. It flickered over the glass and darted in the direction Richard had gone. "No…what is he doing here?!"

She ran to the back of the store where one of her fellow co-workers was busy organizing and shouted at him. "I'm taking my break early! Get up front and mind the counter."

"But I'm not done…" the employee started to argue, but Ying had bolted away, leaving the door swinging behind her. "Well, that was rude..." he uttered to himself.

_**xXx**_

Richard headed for the food court. He had just remembered he hadn't really eaten anything after he made his quick getaway from Ying and felt his empty stomach starting to rumble. It might have been early, too, but some supreme tacos sounded really good to him. So he headed for the Taco Bell booth and got halfway there when he heard a familiar giggle.

"What?…That sounded like," Richard uttered to himself quietly as he turned to the direction he heard the giggle.

He silently walked over to a wall that blocked the sitting area from the food booths and slunk alongside it until he could peek around the corner. What he saw nearly made his sunglasses fall off his face. There, four tables away from here he hiding, sitting together and locking lips and tongues down each other's throat…was Starfire and Speedy.

"The hell?" Richard gasped, blinking rapidly, thinking what he was seeing was an illusion. But much to his regret, the visual scene before him didn't change.

Starfire had her arms wrapped around Speedy, one hand running through his hair, petting him lovingly. Speedy had her yanked as close as he could in their seated position, rubbing her bare midriff and curvy hip and just barely cupping her ass. It was then when Richard saw Speedy's fingers hook down under the skirt to rub her bare thighs was when it finally clicked on him: this was really happening. Speedy didn't linger there very long, just enough to get a feel, and then withdrew his hand back to her hips and broke the kiss.

"Man, I didn't think I'd be able to sneak out of Steel City with the way Bumblebee's been drilling us with team training and double patrols," Speedy said, smiling dreamily at her.

"If we had not figured out to call each of our teams and warn of needing help in our respective cities, then yes, it would have been impossible," Starfire added, hugging him closely.

Richard rolled back behind the wall and gawked at nothing. _They've been planning this? H-How long?!_ This was unbelievable. Starfire was cheating on him…with Speedy! One of his closest friends and fellow youths that went through the same stigma of being a sidekick was going behind his back and stealing his girlfriend! _I don't believe this…I can't. How long have they been doing this, when did it start?_

He didn't want to hear anymore. His heart was pounding like mad and his eyes were starting to sting as tears started to pool in them. He started to grind his teeth together as waves of rage and sorrow spun wildly in his heart. His first impulse was to rip away from the wall and storm right up to them and reveal they've been caught. Were in his Robin suit, he would have done just that, but he wasn't Robin now. He was just normal, average Richard Grayson and it would look funny if a normal guy walked right up to two members of the Teen Titans and declare their unfaithfulness in broad day light.

Snarling silently, Richard forgot about his hunger and stalked off quietly away from the food court. He quickly left the mall and got his motorcycle and drove out at neck breaking speed. Going over the speed limit was not on his mind as he buzzed around everyone on the road and pushed his cycle to go faster. He wanted to get away from what he had just witnessed as fast as he could. The world blurred around him and a part of him knew he was going at too dangerous a speed, but he didn't care. He wanted the world to disappear, along with everything that pained him.

If he was being chased by cops after passing a speed trap, he wasn't aware. He was going too fast and driving in such a random direction, even if a squad tried to go after him, they'd never catch him. And if it got too serious, like helicopters appearing, it was an easy matter to lose them. Nothing mattered anymore, anyway. At the rate he was going, he'd probably soon forget all his troubles after crashing into a building or wrapping himself around a phone-pole. Some forethought of caution finally got a hold of him, and he started to decelerate.

When he slowed down, he found himself on the bridge. Pulling over to the side to allow normal traffic to continue to go by, Richard got off his cycle and strolled over to the edge, where he found himself overlooking Titans Tower. He sighed heavily and ran his hands through his hair, scratching at his scalp, frustrated.

"How am I going to deal with this?" Richard said in grief.

The whole reason the Teen Titans worked so well as a team was because of trust. If he let out what Starfire and Speedy were doing, what would that do to the team? They had all become so close as friends, with Starfire, he thought more so…but after what he saw and overheard? What was he to think now? Too many questions plagued him at once and he had no answer to any one of them.

"What am I going to do? Why is she cheating on me?!" Richard screamed out into the sea.

"Thinking about jumping, are we?" a voice suddenly spoke.

Richard looked around and then down at here he was, and gasped. He had no idea when his foot moved, but it had placed itself halfway off the bridge. Seeing this, he jerked back away from the ledge and stared in bewilderment. "When did I…?"

"It's easy to understand. You are suffering from a massive amount of grief and sorrow…You must really hate being alive right now, don't you?" the voice spoke again, feeling Robin's head.

"Who is talking?" Richard demanded.

A white gloved hand clamped down on his shoulder and gently turned him around. This action caused Richard to come face to face with a man in a large white-brimmed hat and long sickly yellow hair flowing down around his face and back. "You seem lost, young one. You really don't want to live anymore, do you?"

His eyes quivered with a kind of energy and Richard could not pull away from his gaze. It was too hypnotic for him. "…Do I?"

"Yes…You want to die, the grief of your love betraying you with another guy. It's swallowing up with agony, so much that you don't want to continue living like this, hmm?" the strange man in the hat said suggestively.

"…I…don't…want to live with so much…pain," Richard answered back, his will giving in to the man's influence.

The man smiled and reached into the white, heavy trenchcoat he was wearing and pulled out a black-bluish vial. "That's excellent…but I cannot allow you to waste your life so fruitlessly, no. I need you for a very delicate task. I went too much out of way to pick someone who would survive long enough for what I was assigned to do." He grabbed Richard by the neck and forced his jaw to open. "Now, normally, someone of my position is supposed to offer you a deal to compensate you for your willingness to accept and drink the 'Banrikou'. But these aren't normal times, and I'm short on time. So since you won't be a willing resource, no point in making the deal. Honestly, it's a waste of time when after all is said and done you won't get to reap your reward. Bah, the rules are so annoying… Now drink up and let's be done with this."

Richard hung limply in the man's hand, feeling his jaw open up wide and the stranger poured the contents into his mouth, massaging his throat just enough to make him swallow and keep him from choking the precious elixir back up. After that was done, he dropped Richard like a sack of potatoes and chuckled over the gasping hero. "See? It's so simple to just make you drink the Banrikou elixir and not deal with the fuss."

The man stroked the side of his chin and grinned. "Hmm, if only it took you to just drink it and wait so long to ripen…how easy it would be to kill you now and collect the spoils all for myself…"

_**"Get away from him!"**_ A demonic-raged voice thundered.

"What, who?" the man uttered in surprise and leapt away just in time to avoid being reduced to shredded remains by dark ripples of energy. Looking up, he saw a girl in a black leotard and blue cloak hovering over him, eyes blazing crimson red…two sets of red eyes. "I didn't expect you to show up this soon…but no matter, my business is concluded, you can have him. At least, for one more year." The man then vanished into dust, a cruel chuckle echoing into the air.

Raven quickly landed down beside Richard, pulling him into her arms. "I felt your…pain. I had no idea what was going on, but I'm glad I decided to come look for you," she said lightly, then looked closely as a bit of bluish liquid leaked down the corner of Robin's mouth. "What did he do to you?"

Richard could not answer as his throat felt like it was on fire and he started to feel himself losing consciousness. Whatever it was that he was forced to drink, it was forcing him to go under. He wasn't able to resist it and in moments succumbed to darkness. He never even got to hear Raven cry out his name…his real name.

As this happened, up on top of the bridge where the man disappeared up to get away from the Titan girl, he watched the scene, amused. "Heh, this went better than I could have hoped. Oh well, this next year should be rather entertaining watch and witness history in the making." He started to laugh but then was shocked when he instead started choking up blood. "Wha…?" His eyes gazed down and found a black katana blade poking out of his chest when he remembered clearly there wasn't one there before. "Who…?"

"I thought I warned you to never appear in this city, Middleman," a young, feminine voice said, yet it was weigh with more knowledge and experience than should be allowed for such a young voice.

"Y-You?" the proclaimed Middleman uttered, looking over his shoulder…at Ying. "I…thought I hid my presence pretty well. I guess I didn't do a good enough job, huh?"

"Your arrogance to think you could hide from my senses was your downfall. You should have remembered just who you were trying to sneak around," Ying said with a deadly calmness and seemed to chill the air. "Now tell me…what have you done?"

Middleman, even impaled by her sword, chuckled and pointed down at the two Titans. "Why, I did what I was ordered to do, my dear. My service was called for when desperation finally forced action to be taken. What did you think would happen after you fled from your rightful duty? You think you could just hide and pretend to live among humans like you were one of….GRAH!"

He was cut off literally…when Ying jerked her wrist upward and the razor sharp edge of her sword sliced cleanly through Middleman's upper torso and head. Her wrist didn't stop moving after that one action, it started flickering in rapid session in front of her, moving with a speed impossible for the human eye to follow. When her wrist stopped moving, Middleman's remains were nothing more than micro bits, which burst into dust, blowing harmlessly away by the wind.

"Middleman…you damn fool. You knew I was going to kill you if you ever made your presence known to me. If they sent you here, then it can only mean…" Ying looked down and her eyes narrowed in sorrow at Richard who was being picked up and carried off the bridge by Raven as she took him to the tower on the small, lonely island. "This shouldn't have happened…how was I unable to detect him sooner?"

A faint idea popped in her head and she snarled, hints of fangs descending down from her canines as they stretched could be seen. They instantly retracted as she regained control of her anger. "…So they've finally decided to do something. After all this time, I almost believed they'd never take action. That will be the last time I let myself foolishly dream idly in anything...especially when _they _are concerned."

She watched Raven fly to the top of the tower, easily able to keep her in sight as her eyes were not like those of a normal human, much as her appearance might contradict. "Those Titans have no idea of the nightmare that is about to befall them…" She tightened her grip for a moment, then sheathed her katana back in a black scabbard. "Seems I'll need to remind those idiots who they shouldn't anger."

_**xXx**_


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own the show Teen Titans, they are the property of DC Comics/CN. No profit is being made in the making of this story. It is purely for entertainment purposes. Only claim of right is the following OC: Ying. **

**xXx**

**Dark Souls**

**Chapter 2**

Raven had taken Richard start to the Infirmary, getting him on one of the beds, then she alerted her teammates that Robin was attacked. As an afterthought, Raven removed his sunglasses after she fetched one of his domino masks from his room, using her Soulself quickly. She wasn't going to change him out of his entire wardrobe, but she wanted to be sure that he was Robin when the entire team came to check on him. They were better acquainted with Robin, not Richard….

She put a blanket up to his neck to hide his clothes just as Beast Boy and Cyborg ran into the Infirmary. Cyborg wasted no time as he went straight to the bed and pulled out the medical equipment stationed at the bedside and started scanning Robin's vitals. Beast Boy, on clue…

"What happened to Robin?"

"I don't know. He was being attacked by some strange man and forced Robin to ingest some kind of liquid," Raven said, but she directed it at Cyborg.

"I'll run a blood analysis now. Raven, take BB out of here. I need to focus on this," Cyborg ordered, taking on responsibility as leader since Robin was out of commission at the moment.

Raven wordlessly did as he said, grabbing Beast Boy by the collar who started to protest and dragged him out of the Infirmary. Once they were out, she let him go.

"Go contact Starfire, tell her we need her back, now!" Raven said without argue.

Beast Boy conceded. When Raven decided to be forceful, it meant he had to be serious and do what was asked of him. After he left, Raven held herself for a moment, bowing her head in worry, then slowly, she reached into her cloak and pulled out the vial that the stranger had forced Richard to drink. There was writing on the side of it and much to his irritation, it looked like it was written in Japanese kanji. She needed to get it translated if she was to have any idea what the substance was. She was sure it wasn't poison. It would not make any sense to force someone to drink it, when it would work faster by injecting it straight into the bloodstream.

That didn't mean whatever the stuff was would not be harmful to Richard. Trusting Cyborg to keep Richard stable, she hurried to the Common Room to use the supercomputer to begin translating the writing. She berated herself as she headed for the computer. Since they had returned from Tokyo, she had been meaning to learn how to read Kanji, but she kept getting distracted with other projects and her spellcraft. This was just another example of why she needed to learn it, so she wouldn't have to waste time like she was forced to do. Time seemed to be a factor now. The stranger had stated that Richard only had a year. A year for what, though? To live? The more she thought about his meaning, the more dread built in her heart.

Reaching the computer, she placed the vial in one of the scanners to read the label, then she set it to start translating. It only took a moment and it spelt out what it said for her on the screen: "_**Banrikou**_"

"Banrikou?" Raven repeated aloud, then had the computer search its meaning…but it came up blank. "Why isn't there a single reference about it?" She ran the computer again, but once more only that word reappeared. She didn't lose heart, though. If it wasn't in the main database, then it could only mean that it wasn't common knowledge or any modern thing. Grabbing the bottle, she quickly retreated to her room. If there was any hint of what Banrikou was, then she might find it in one of her arcane books.

Sadly, she had no idea where to start and that meant she would have to start randomly, until she could find a signal reference to it. Meaning, it could take her all night to go through all her books. The time it would take was longer than she'd like, but if she was to help Richard.

_Robin, his name is Robin...I have to remember that,_ Raven scowled at herself.

She and Robin were friends but she wasn't as close as she'd like to refer to him by his real name. She was still just his teammate and friend…nothing else.

_**xXx**_

Richard started to stir awake. His eyes flickered slowly open and then quickly shut when a bright white light stung them. Groaning, he fought to get his eyes to reopen and get used to the blaring light. When it finally didn't sting so badly, he opened them wider and looked about at his surroundings. "…Why…am I in the Infirmary?"

"Oh good, you're awake. I was afraid you weren't gonna," Cyborg's voice greeted him.

Richard instinctively reached up to his face, but he found his mask was back on him. Looking down, he found his shirt was removed and he was in nothing but his boxers.

"Sorry, man. I had to run a few tests on you and your normal clothes would have gotten in the way," Cyborg apologized.

"Did you put my mask back on?" 'Robin' asked him.

"No, I think Raven did that for ya. Girl was panicked after she brought you back to the tower. Never seen her look so scared, even for her," Cyborg commented.

"…What happened to me?" Robin asked.

"Don't you remember?" Cyborg said with concern.

"…Parts of it…my head's hurting some, but I think I was dreaming most of it," Robin answered, rubbing the side of his head.

"Can you remember what it was about?" Cyborg said.

"I…was at the mall, then I saw the most impossible thing…" Images of Starfire kissing Speedy deeply flashed through his mind. God, it had to have been just a nightmare. There was no way that could have been real. "I ran afterwards, then I kept on going and going until I was on the bridge, then this guy appeared and I looked into his eyes…and everything went hazy after that and then my throat burned and then everything is just a blank void after that."

Cyborg frowned and stared at Robin. "What was the thing before that? The impossible thing?"

Robin laughed, scratching at his head. "Ah, I thought I saw Starfire French-kissing Speedy in the food court. Man, that scared the hell out of me more than what happened afterwards."

Cyborg's frown deepened and his one human eye narrowed grimly. "Robin…it wasn't a dream. You were attacked by a strange guy. Raven sensed you were in trouble and came to your rescue and saw him pour some kind of liquid in your mouth. I've been running analysis on your blood all day and night, and found some kind of strange substance in your bloodstream, but I can't identity what it is."

Robin froze on the bed, horror starting to fill in his eyes behind his mask as his jaw slowly dropped. "T-Then what I saw before…I-It really happened?"

Cyborg grimaced. "I'm sorry, Rob…I thought you and her were tight."

"Not tight enough it seems," Robin uttered, then collapsed his head into his hands, slowly starting to tremble. "…No, god no! Why couldn't it have just been a nightmare! Why, damnit!?"

Cyborg moved over to the bed and placed a comforting hand on the Boy Wonder's shoulder. He said nothing. In moments like these, it was just good to have a friend nearby. He would never hold it against Robin if he needed to cry, yell out in fury, whatever he needed to vent his sorrow, but he knew Robin wouldn't do any of that. He would bottle it all up inside and try to lock it away and forget about it…kinda like one other person in particular. So Cyborg stayed at his friend's side and waited until Robin was ready to deal with things.

It didn't take long. Robin wasn't the kind of person to waste too much time with emotional baggage. After he worked on accepting the truth, Robin gently pushed Cyborg's hand off him and then hopped off the bed. "I'm going to go put on a fresh uniform…Let me know when Starfire gets back."

"Uh, she's been back…and I shoulda mentioned this already, but you've been out of it for almost a whole day," Cyborg said a bit sheepishly.

Robin groaned and rolled his eyes. "Fine, then I'll meet everyone in the Common Room and we'll go over what happened…from when I was attacked by the stranger. I'll handle my personal matters after we deal with this."

Cyborg nodded in silence then watched Robin leave the Infirmary and sighed, running a hand over his bald head. "Man, things just keep getting confusing every day…" Then remembering what Robin said about Starfire and Speedy, Cyborg snarled slightly and then marched over to the computer and started to call up Titans East.

To his luck, Bumblebee answered. "Hey, Cy! Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, everything is fine. Say, is Speedy there?" Cyborg asked.

Bumblebee blinked at him. "Why would you ask that? He's been with you guys since Starfire gave us a call that you guys needed a little extra firepower. Speedy volunteered like he always does…" Her eyes widened then. Bumblebee was one of the smartest girls Cyborg knew and would catch on real quick. "What's that arrowhead doing now?"

"Nothing good it seems. We've been getting calls from Speedy saying you guys have been needing the help, and Starfire would be the one to volunteer to go…" Cyborg revealed, knowing that was all he needed to say.

Bumblebee's look could have been used as the perfect picture in a Webster Dictionary definition of confusion. "What about Robin? I thought he and Starfire were hooked up."

"So did Rob…until he caught the two exchanging saliva at the mall yesterday," Cyborg grimaced.

Bumblebee started to hiss, catching herself as she almost cursed out loud. Having two really young members like Mas N' Menos on her team made it hard to cuss around. She was not going to be the one to have their first learned English words be cuss words, so she had to watch what she said. "Damn, I thought there was something a little off about Speedy being so eager to go help. Add that and whenever I've said the whole team should go, he just brushes us off and leaves quick."

"Yeah, that's what Starfire's done," Cyborg said and growling silently. He had hoped that maybe that part was really a dream for Robin. Guess now he can account that everything Robin remembered was true. "Thanks, Bee…Needed to get that cleared up. And I'll be sending Speedy back to you guys…assuming I don't ring his neck first."

"Don't bother. I'll deal with Speedy since he's been fooling his own team. Just send him back in one piece," Bumblebee replied.

"No promises," Cyborg said, then killed the connection. He was angry and he never would have thought he'd be like that toward Starfire. She was just so cheery and positive. If anything, Cyborg had bet that it would be Robin that broke up their relationship. But for her to be the one was like a punch in the face from Cinderblock. Hard and always coming at you when you least expected.

Stalking away from the computer, Cyborg left the Infirmary and went to round up the other Titans. His first stop was at Starfire's room. He slammed his fists hard on it, but careful not to knock the door down. "Star, Robin's up. Meet up in the Common Room, now!"

He paused and he swore under his breath when he heard two muffled voices arguing with each other, then Starfire spoke up loudly. "I shall be there once I go make sure Speedy is up!"

Cyborg gritted his teeth. _Oh, I'm not doubting you already got Speedy '_up'_. _Biting back his comment, he tried to keep his voice leveled. "Just hurry up, okay?"

"Of course, friend Cyborg!"

Cyborg felt his gut twist when she called him friend. It took everything in him not to rip that door down and catch her with Speedy and chew them out like they deserved. No, Robin knew about this longer than he had, and if anyone had the right to give Starfire an ear full, it was him. He marched off to alert Beast Boy and Raven that Robin was up. Raven came out of her room instantly, trying to contain her worried feelings for Robin, but clearly, she was just as distraught about the whole thing as everyone. Actually, she seemed more worried than anyone else.

"How is he?" Raven asked hurriedly.

"…He's dealing with what happened yesterday as we expect them to act. Like it doesn't bother him. No doubt he's gonna deal with this in same old Robin's fashion and keep it as quiet as possible," Cyborg replied with a heavy sigh.

Raven grimaced but didn't comment further. Once Robin decided to do something, there was no changing his mind. They would just have to be ready to support Robin when they could…and keep him from doing something stupid, like making another alter-ego like he did with Red X. That didn't end well and now there really was a thief running around doing who knows what wearing the infamous suit. Then there was how they were going to deal with Starfire. Granted, Robin was the one that will ultimately decide what happened with her, but Starfire was still a team member and anything that might unbalance the team involved the whole team.

"Better get Beast Boy and let him know what's going on," Raven said, trying to keep her monotone voice, but it quake just slightly with worry.

"….Don't bother. I already know," Beast Boy said, coming out of his own room and joining them in the hallway.

"You knew? How long did you know this?!" Raven said heatedly, looking ready to cause him pain.

"Whoa! Easy there, Raven! It's not like I was holding it back on purpose. I-it's just that it was something I wasn't sure how to tell anyone. I wasn't sure what would happen to the team if they found out Starfire was cheating behind Robin's back," Beast Boy said quickly, backing up against the wall when Raven started walking toward him, towering over him.

"Just tell me how you knew," Raven demanded coldly.

Beast Boy tapped his nose. "I may not be smart in a lot of things, but my nose is always sure of anything it smells. Starfire has been reeking of Speedy's scent for the past five months. I know she's been trying to hide it with as much soap or perfume…but there are just some things you can't wash off easy." He wiggled his nose as if catching the scent again. "At first I thought it was because they were doing missions together. But then the scent kept getting stronger and other things hinted at more than just them being close to one another, things that Robin's scent should have been there, not Speedy's."

"…Five months…" Raven snarled but it was at the floor she was looking at. "They've been at this for five months."

"That's just when the scent started to get too noticeable to miss. I don't know exactly when they started this, it could have been longer," Beast Boy deduced but he saw that he should have kept his mouth shut.

Raven was getting that evil look in her eyes that could only mean someone was going to suffer. A hint of her second set of eyes peeked out from underneath her brow, glaring out crimson hate. Cyborg noticed this, too, and tried to intervene before Raven actually lost it. It would be really bad for everyone if Raven let herself give in to her anger. The tower might not survive if she unleashed her wrath.

"She's got a lot to answer for, but Robin is the one that's been hurt the most. Yeah, I never would have thought Starfire would keep secrets from us, especially something like this. But Robin deserves a chance to deal with this on his terms," Cyborg reasoned.

Raven almost snarled but then forced herself to control her feelings. Hate was whispering too much into her to do things she knew she would regret and she needed to stop…because she very much becoming tempted to do exactly what her most troublesome emoticon wanted. "Fine…but I'm not going to stay quiet for long."

Cyborg thought he would be relieved but the way Raven had said that made him feel like things were going to be worse. "Let's get to the Common Room. Better get this over with…"

Raven stormed off. "Yeah, let's get this over with..."

That terrible feeling returned worse than before and Cyborg knew, there was going to be a really bad catastrophe. One that will end up with him having to repair everything it not re-build a whole new tower. Rubbing his bald head once more, he groaned quietly to Beast Boy. "Man, this is gonna be bad…"

"I've never seen Raven this close to losing it. What's going to happen if she does?" Beast Boy said fearfully. He had a good idea just how bad it was going to be, but he was hoping Cyborg would say some comforting words to ease his mind.

Cyborg didn't.

"Be ready for hell, fuzzball. Be ready for hell…"

Whimpering silently, Beast Boy followed Cyborg when he started following after Raven to the Common Room. Things were not going to end well, there was no hope of that now. They knew it. They could only hope it wouldn't be as bad as they imagined, even if that might be a fruitless hope, which really, it was. Starfire had been considered the heart and soul of the team. The one that kept them all together, but for whatever reason, she has chosen to wound them with this betrayal. And unfortunately, Robin would be harmed the most from this. He had given his own heart to her and she had chosen to step over it in favor of whatever she had with Speedy.

The three entered the Common Room to find it empty. Obviously, Robin was still changing into a new uniform and Starfire was fooling around or getting whatever kind of cover story the two had concocted to explain their tardiness. About ten minutes later, Starfire entered first, acting her usual bubbly self…then barely two minutes after her, Speedy. He appeared to be too comfortable with everything, completely sure no one was the wiser. Cyborg had to fight the impulse to go over to the archer and give him a good thrashing as he promised Bumblebee he would. The smug smirk on Speedy's face as a total eyesore now. Raven was not hiding at all the glare she was shooting at Starfire, who seemed to have finally realized that her teammates weren't in the best of moods.

Robin was completely passive. He didn't look at anyone as he was probably still working out how to deal with the truth. Speedy, though, apparently was misreading the mood in the room as concern as he walked right up to Robin and patted him on the shoulder. "Come on, Rob. It's not the first time someone's managed to get the drop. We've all had that happen to use at some point. Just gotta be thankful you survived it and having awesome teammates."

Robin slapped Speedy's hand off his shoulder, whirling around on him and looked ready to snap the archer in two. "From what I've come to learn recently. You know just too well how 'awesome' certain members of my team are."

Speedy in gave him an inquisitive, slightly nervous look. "W-what's that supposed to mean?"

"It means, the people who I thought I knew and trusted had been lying behind my back…" Robin glared directly in Speedy's masked eyes.

Realization dawned on Speedy, as well as Starfire as she gasped slightly, then looked at her teammates guiltily. "R-robin, can we please talk about this alone? I feel this is a matter we…"

"What, Starfire?" Robin cut her off, slashing at the air angry with a hand as he turned to her. "That you didn't see letting Speedy drive his tongue down your throat? Seeing you together at the mall when you both lied to your own teams just to fool around?" his voice was shaking with anger and it was evident that he was trying very hard to keep himself under control.

"Whoa! I'm not sure what you saw, Rob. But we weren't…" Speedy started to say but was silenced when Robin grabbed his shirt by both hands and yanked him in close and hissed into his face.

"Save it, Speedy! I might have been completely obvious to you and Starfire's little coop, but I'm not an imbecile! Don't try playing dumb with me," Robin warned.

"Come on, let me go…now," Speedy said and there was an edge of a threat in his tone.

It was then when Cyborg stomped over and yanked him away from Robin. The archer thought he was in the clear and almost sighed in relief, until Cyborg jerked him around and forced him to look into his real and cybernetic eye, seeing the rage and disgust in the real one. "Don't even go there, Speedy. It's hard enough not to give you the thrashing you deserve, but I promised Bumblebee I'd let you return to your tower in one piece, just so she can rip you a new one. So don't try the tough guy routine in _our_ tower."

Apparently, Speedy was willing to get into a fight as he pushed away from Cyborg and instinctively starting going for his bow. It was then that Starfire spoke up.

"Friends! Please do not fight! This…this is merely a misunderstanding. If we can just explain our side of the story, then we can avoid not hurting one another," Starfire surmised passively, yet instead of going to Robin. She floated over slightly to Speedy's side, holding up her hands.

Robin suddenly had a bitter taste in his mouth. Maybe whatever that stuff he was forced to drink was bubbling back up on him, or something, but it only worsened his mood. "What's to explain, Starfire? You've been sneaking behind my back with Speedy. I just want to know why?"

Starfire bit at her look, looking as guilty as sin, blushing madly. "T-the reason…w-well…I…I just really like how Speedy kisses me. It is simply that, nothing else really."

…That was it? Everyone thought. Starfire was cheating on Robing because Speedy was a better lover?

Robin felt a part of him go dead cold. He would have accepted that it was his fault. That she was pulling away from him, because of something he was doing wrong, like not being a more attentive boyfriend. Or not sharing all his emotions with her when there were certain things he just couldn't talk about. He was even ready for her to yell at him about anything else…but merely because of a vain excuse?

"We're done…" Robin stated icily and started to storm away.

Starfire looked hurt. "What? You mean…we are no longer…'the item'? But why, Robin?"

Robin was so disgusted he could not look at her. "You think I can be with someone who has been secretly seeing one of my friends behind my back? You think I'd still want to be in a relationship when all the time we'd be spending together is just a lie, when you're really thinking about Speedy instead of me? I don't know what a normal relationship is on your world, Star. But here on earth, we don't do that kind of stuff."

"Please, wait, Robin!" Starfire pleaded, only for him to ignore her as he continue to standd with his back turned to her.

"Hey, Robin. It wasn't that we were intentionally trying to hurt you. It just…well, it just happened," Speedy added, but what he said was only burying him further.

"Well, it can happen whenever you want it to now, Speedy. She's all yours. I'm not going to be a part of this any longer!" Robin stated angrily, starting to lose his cool.

As luck would have in that moment, the alarms went off. "Really? Now?" Beast Boy groaned.

Robin grimaced at the alarm, but truthfully, he was very glad they did. They prevented him from doing something he might have regretted, maybe. "Titans! Move out!" He ordered, but then glared at Speedy and Starfire. "We're not done discussing this…not by a long shot." Then he took off toward the exit.

"Long shot…funny," Speedy mumbled sarcastically. "This isn't going to end well…"

"Speedy…have we made a mistake?" Starfire said, moving close to his side.

He automatically took her into his arm and gave her a quick peck on the lips. "Don't worry, babe. We'll deal with this. It was bound to come out of the closest sooner or later. Better it came out now. At least we don't have to waste time sneaking around now."

Starfire didn't look too happy about things. "But…what about Robin? I did not wish to hurt him."

Speedy shrugged. "He'll get over it. He's Robin. Nothing gets to him."

Suddenly he felt an icy chill go down his spine and he instinctively turned to see Raven hadn't moved yet, but was in fact, given the two now-proclaimed couple the death stare. "…You really don't know Robin at all, Speedy. What you two have done to him, it won't be easy for him to heal from." She then levitated up and went after Robin.

Both Speedy and Starfire looked very pale.

"…Shit, Raven's mad, too," Speedy panicked.

"We may have indeed done something terrible," Starfire replied, hugging onto Speedy.

Speedy shook his head quickly, to get his wits back, then looked questionably. "Why would Raven be upset? It's not like she cares for Robin…wait, oh crap." He had been going on until he saw the nervous expression on Starfire's face. "You knew?"

"I…suspected," Starfire murmured, looking really shy. "Raven has always been hard to read with her closed emotions. But when it came to Robin…she would…acknowledge his presence with a slightly less Raven-like attitude."

"How come she never expressed any interest with Robin?" Speedy wondered, and here he got very nervous when Starfire became even more embarrassed.

"…I…may have discouraged her…from time to time," Starfire said with her eyes averted.

"What? How…" Speedy muttered and then he slumped over and replied with a deadpan tone. "We're so doomed…"

Starfire matched his reaction with her own and nodded in agreement.

_**xXx**_

Robin had taken off on his R-Cycle and trying to put his mind on the fight ahead. His GPS was giving him the coordinates to where the attack was going on, so all he had to do was avoid hitting anything, but that was proving difficult as he kept replaying Starfire and Speedy making out in his mind over and over. He couldn't stop the image. It was engraved into his mind like a poison, worsening his resolve and focus. He was going to be a liability in this fight, he knew.

But then again, if anything went wrong and he got taken out, at least then the torment would…

_'Damn it! I'm not suicidal! What is wrong with me?'_ Robin hissed at himself, grinding his teeth to where it was almost painful. _'Get your head in the game, Robin! There are lives at stake. There's no time for this self-pity crap now!'_

He kept telling himself that but that feeling wouldn't go away. In fact it felt like it was getting worse and he winced as he suddenly felt a flicker of pain in his chest. He almost lost control of his R-Cycle and wrecked. As it was, he had to hit the brakes until he skid to a halt, handing grasping at his chest.

"What is going on with me?" Robin gasped in pain, curling forward in agony.

The pain pulsed a moment longer then it started to go away, leaving Robin feeling almost completely exhausted.

"…This isn't good," Robin panted, his vision having blurred some while he was in pain. It hurt like a son of a bitch. If he didn't know any better, he swore he almost had a heart attack. "…Am I dying?"

He almost thought he heard a voice reply. It was more like a whisper in the back of his mind, but what it said filled him with dread. Yes, whatever he was forced to consume was slowly killing him. If this was just a glimpse of what was to come, Robin feared what will happen when the liquid now running through his veins really acted up.

He suddenly got a transmission in his helmet. "Rob? You okay? We saw you stopped on the GPS," Cyborg's concerned voice echoed in his helmet.

Robin tried to calm his breathing until he was sure his voice wouldn't be too shaky. "I'm…fine. Focus on the mission. Everything else doesn't matter."

"Robin, if something is wrong. You shouldn't be…" Raven started to say.

"I said I'm fine!" Robin shouted, then berated himself for snapping at her. "…Look, there's nothing we can do right now. There's trouble and we gotta stop it. Just please…don't treat me like I'm broken."

There was silence for a moment, then Raven's voice replied. "After this, we're dealing with the Banrikou. No discussion…"

"…Deal," Robin replied back reluctantly. _'Banrikou…that's what that guy called that stuff he force-fed me.'_

Revving back up the R-Cycle, Robin took off and returned to the course his GPS told him to go. Soon enough after buzzing around cars and making sharp turns at key corners, Robin came upon the scene. He leapt off his vehicle and tossed his helmet away and snarled when he saw who was causing the mayhem. Well, 'who' wasn't really accurate? It was more like 'what' was causing the mayhem. Hovering over a playground, with its tentacle-like limbs coiling around a playset, the creature was in the process of sucking up a child that was trying to hold on tightly the metal post of the playset, crying out in terror. The poor child lost his grip and was sucked up into the creature, landing inside a chamber that resembled a living, pulsing heart.

"Kardiak!" Robin hissed and quickly pulled out his Bo Staff. "I thought Raven broke you for good last time!"

The monstrous mechanism swirled around to face him, or it simply swirled. The fact the thing lacked a face or any recognizable eyes made it difficult to tell if it was really looking at him. But the lack of eyes didn't impede its ability to know where Robin was or the prey it was hunting. It then did something that Robin didn't expect. It started glowing crimson red, and then remarkably, the child trapped inside its heart chamber was yanked out and came spewing out of one of its five tentacles. The child was stunned but didn't appear to be harmed.

"What the?" Robin wondered, then cried out in alarm when Kardiak let out a monstrous howl and flung all its tentacles at him. "Whoa!"

Robin evaded the first strike, rolling to his left side and then back onto his feet, putting away his Bo Staff, and then reaching for some explosive disks. "Nice of you to give up the kid, but that just means I can blow you up now!"

"…B…Banri…kou!" a voice echoed out of Kardiak.

"What?" Robin said in shock. It could talk? And it knew about the Banrikou? Quickly putting the explosive disks away, Robin leveled a finger at Kardiak. "You know something about what the man made me drink? Tell me what Banrikou is!"

The mechanical monster howled again and from one of its tentacles, a face of a fanged-mouth clown formed. "Give me…the Banrikou!"

"Tell me what it is! How do you know about it?" Robin demanded.

"Power! Unthinkable, power. MINE!" The puppet roared. "Will have the Banrikou, will devour…your heart!" it hissed and started chopping its fanged-filled mouth excited and launched straight for Robin's chest.

"Ah!" Robin cried and pivoted away to avoid the puppet.

The rest of Kardiak's tentacles followed suit and tried to snatch Robin up. Each one starting to turn into a demonic-looking mouth with razor-sharp teeth. The puppet-head kept screaming Banrikou at Robin. "Will devour heart! Will be king of all!"

"King? King of what?" Robin said, becoming more determined to learn the mystery behind Banrikou.

"WANT HEART!" Kardiak insisted violently, rushing its main body at Robin and trying to cut off any escape for Robin with extending out and curling its tentacles around him.

Robin tried to jump through a gap he saw between the tentacles, but it was too late for him to realize Kardiak had performed a feint. It wanted him to try and evade its grasp so it could get him to get close enough to one of its tentacles. For as soon as Robin tried to leap through the gap, Kardiak had been waiting to curl in its tentacle and wrap around Robin, tightly.

The clown-head reared up over Robin like a nightmarish snake and hissed happily. "Mine! MY BANRIKOU!" then it dove right for Robin and sank its teeth into Robin's chest, ripping through the material of his shirt and digging into actual flesh.

Robin let loose an agonizing cry. He squirmed helplessly as he felt the teeth trying to sink in deeper. It was only making it worse as his wiggling was helping the teeth cut in more. Kardiak's whole being vibrated in delight as blood squirted out of Robin. It had tasted the Banrikou! It could feel the power promised in it. He had to have more! Just as it was readying to chop through the weak flesh blocking its prize from it, it suddenly lost control of its limbs when a disturbance in the air sliced through them. All at once, the limbs fell, unattached, from Kardiak's body. Robin fell on his side and moaned, then quickly reached up to his chest and yanked off the puppet head still biting into his flesh.

The pieces fell lifelessly around him and Robin panicked and started crawling away from them, fully aware that Kardiak can reattach its lost limbs. He looked around for the source that had saved him and then gaped when he saw the last person he ever expected to see when a pair of booted feet walked by him. "Y-yang?!"

At least he thought it was Yang. This girl was somewhat different from the cheery game-store girl he saw last. For one, her skin had darkened to a deep tan and her hair was longer than last he remembered. Resting on her hip was a katana with a string of praying beads wrapped around its hilt and tied to her waist belt. She strolled comely toward Kardiak and her eyes started to glow a soft purple as she neared the monster.

"I hope you enjoyed your snack, because it's the last thing you'll ever taste," Yang said with a cold, serious tone Robin wasn't used to hearing from her.

Kardiak hissed at her and howled angrily, reaching out with its stumped limbs, using its suction ability to pull as many of its severed limbs back to its body as possible. Most of them reformed but Kardiak didn't wait for all of them to come back to him. It lashed out at Yang hostility, aiming to smash her to paste. A wicked smile appeared on her face and her body blurred around the limbs as they fell over her. It was more like she was shifting out of phase and reappearing in another spot around the tentacles, continuing that calm, paced stroll. She smiled sweetly at the monster as she walked right up to its main body and raised a hand up.

"Time to feel Oblivion's kiss," Yang said with apathy and tapped the metallic surface of Kardiak's skin with her nail.

Kardiak howled to a sudden halt and froze in place. The spot that had been touched by her nail began to glow with an ominous light and started spreading all across its body like spider-webbings, or a nest of vines rapidly growing over a stone. Kardiak's frame shook violently as the light continued to spread over until its entire body was covered, then it started caving in on itself. Its frame crushed inward and its red glass-like heart chamber shattered to pieces, but not a bit of glass touched a single blade of grass underneath it. Soon Kardiak was balled up into a tight mass floating before Yang, shaking wildly.

"…Farewell, monster of children's terror," Yang said softly and blew a kiss at the ball.

A sharp hiss, like one final cry from Kardiak came out of the ball and what was left of its mass imploded and was gone. Robin stared in disbelief, looking wildly for any remaining bits of Kardiak. The blasted thing could regenerate and he suspected that even if just one single piece of the monster survived, the floating horror would return.

"Don't worry. It will not return again," Yang said as she gave Robin her full attention.

"But the limbs! They…wait, where'd they go?" Robin uttered in confusion as he searched for them, seeing nothing but dirt and grass around him.

"When the main core of a demon is banished, any lingering bits of its essences will disappear with it. I made sure of that," she said with an overly calm, pleasant voice.

"Demon? Kardiak was a demon?" Robin said with a look of surprise.

"Of course. A middle-class demon which is why your team always had trouble with it, but nothing I couldn't handle," Yang replied.

At that moment, the T-Car rode up to the scene and the rest of the Titans poured out. Just behind them, Starfire carrying Speedy landed beside them. Raven examined the situation and her eyes spotted the bloody stain and rips on Robin's shirt and she went quickly to his side, falling down to her knees next to him. "Robin! Are you okay…Oh Azar, your chest!"

Robin had completely forgotten about his injury after Yang had taken out Kardiak. Looking down at his chest made a series of sharp, sting pain explode across his chest as his brain registered his body had been wounded. Raven gasped at she saw the gashes circling around his left breast. It looked like something had tried to eat him. She then jerked her eyes up to Yang, who gazed down at them with that eerie calmness.

"You did this, didn't you?" Raven snarled, a hint of red flashing over her eyes.

"Be calm, half-blood. I did not cause any harm to Robin. Why would I hurt my best costumer?" Yang said with a smile.

"Costumer?" Raven repeated.

Robin's eyes widened out and he quickly started fretting, grabbing Raven's arm. "She knows who I really am!"

Raven came alarmed and lost control of her jaw muscles for a moment, barely able to speak. "H-how?"

"Long story, but to assure you. I have no intentions of misusing Robin's true identity. It will remain a secret as it needs to be," Yang informed.

"…How did you know it was me?" Robin asked.

Yang giggled and tapped her nose. "You really should use a different kind of hair gel, Robin. The brand you use leaves a very distinctive smell. And you're always wearing sunglasses. They really don't help and if anything make you still look like Robin when out of uniform."

Robin groaned. Everyone always picked on him about this hair gel. None of them realized it wasn't so much as a fashion thing, but it was because of the hardening effect the gel had on his hair that kept any stray lines of hair from falling and leaving any of his D.N.A. lying about for anyone good with forensics to find and quickly identify him. None of his teammates understood how lucky they were that they could be full-time heroes while he still had to maintain a normal identity.

"Kardiak…it knew about what happened to me. It knew about something called Banrikou," Robin said as he suddenly remembered hearing what Kardiak had said.

"Yes, I wouldn't be surprised. All demons and devils know about Banrikou…" Yang said, crossing her arms under her chest, as her form suddenly changed back to the normal state Robin was used to seeing. "Which is why I'm revealing myself now to you."

"Hey, I know you. You're that girl that works in the game store!" Beast Boy cried in realization.

"Really? I change my skin color and now you recognize me?" Yang said in a deadpanned manner, pinching the bridge of her nose, then muttering under her breath. "No wonder that buffoon Superman gets away with those glasses…so many idiots."

"What was that?" Beast Boy said, his pointy ears twitching.

Yang waved him off. "Never mind, it's irrelevant. We have much to talk about. Most importantly about the Banrikou running through Robin's heart now, but first we need to tend to his wounds. His blood will likely draw the attention of every demonic force within a hundred mile radius."

Cyborg rushed over to the T-Car to get the emergency first-aid kit, then came back and got to work. "Let's get the bleeding to stop, then we can move him and drive him back to the tower."

Speedy came up to Yang, looking at her distrustfully. "How is it that you knew to be here, huh? And what's this about demons?"

"Questions later, as I said," Yang said.

"No, we're getting answers now," Speedy insisted, being backed up by Starfire. "Please, you must tell us what you know. What is this Banrikou you spoke of?"

Yang smiled but her face held no amusement or pleasantness anymore. "I don't speak to betrayers."

Speedy started reaching for his bow. "Okay, lady. How the hell do you know so much."

"Speedy, back off," Robin grunted, trying not to wince as Cyborg cleaned his cuts. "She saved my life."

"So what?" Speedy scoffed. "That could have been a ploy to gain our trust."

Robin narrowed his eyes. "You're one to talk about trust. Besides, who put you in charge? I might be a little cut up, but I'm not out of commission."

Cyborg interjected. "A little cut up? Rob, this looks like someone tried to chew a chuck of you off! This isn't going to heal overnight."

"Yes it will," Yang stated plainly, gaining everyone's attention. "The Banrikou. It will heal Robin as his body is hosting the power it is ripening in his heart. But this will only speed up the negative side-effects."

"Side-effects?" Raven inquired.

"Please, all these questions must wait. None of you are safe as long as Robin's blood is scenting the air," Yang replied quickly.

Begrudgingly, they did as she suggested. Cyborg got Robin fixed up enough to travel, forcing him to ride in the T-Car back to the tower. Speedy was more than willing to ride the R-Cycle back, but was stopped by Robin. "You already got my girl…you're not gonna ride my ride, too."

Raven intervened before another argument could happen. She sent out her Soulself from her shadow and the R-Cycle vanished into it, falling down in it and then it returned to her feet. "Got it…let's go." She had done the same thing with Robin's civilian cycle when she rescued him on the bridge. It was slight discomforting how a heavy object like that in her Soulself, but it was faster this way.

The others piled into the car, Yang joining them, then took off…before Speedy or Starfire could get try and get inside. Wordlessly, Starfire picked up Speedy again and flew him back to the tower. Arriving back, Robin was rushed once more to the Infirmary where his wound was better treated and patched up. This procedure left Robin shirtless as his uniform was in ruins and the wound was larger than he thought it. After his wound was tended to, Robin addressed Yang again.

"Okay, no more blood problem. Now tell us what you know about the Banrikou and what was done to me, Yang."

Yang nodded. "I shall…but before we begin. I must inform you. My name is not Yang. That is just a civilian guise I use. Please, call me _**Ivy**_."

"Just Ivy?" Robin questioned.

She smiled that eerie one again. "For now…Later on, I might reveal the rest of my name, but that will depend on what happens from here. Now, as for what happened to you. It is partly my fault."

"You're fault? You're the cause of this?" Raven said close to rage.

Ivy let her gaze fall. "It is complicated but it is mostly because of what I will not do is what led to the Banrikou being used. Robin unfortunately was the one chosen to drink it, but the one that had done this has made a grave error."

"How so?" Robin asked.

"The Banrikou is an elixir when given to someone to drink will give them perfect health, but that is only because the person's heart is being ripened with a power, a great and might one," Ivy explained.

"That doesn't sound too bad, Rob. To be perfectly healthy, anyone would want that!" Speedy remarked, only to go silent when Ivy shot a glare at him.

"There is a complication to that. You see, the one that drinks the Banrikou…must be a willing soul. The man that attacked you, being too impatient, has ruined any chances of the Banrikou to fully ripen within a full year's time. Because anyone who is forced or unwilling to accept the Banrikou, it becomes more like a poison to that person's body…and their soul. The Banrikou does grant good health…but at the same time, it will shorten the person's life each time they have to heal. Depending on the original health of the one who drank the Banrikou, will determine how much time they have before they die…" Ivy continued grimly.

"What…?" Robin murmured followed by his teammates.

"It is a magical elixir, one of a kind. It's too dangerous to be used lightly, but it seems the ones behind all this have truly become impatient," Ivy said, resting her hip against the side of a table, tapping the hilt of her sword. "Because of…certain events. Hell has no leader to sit upon the Black Throne. The ones responsible for using the Banrikou have done this so a new leader will be chosen to take the throne and rule Hell and control the realm and its horde."

"But Robin is not evil! He would be ill-fit to take such a role!" Starfire exclaimed hastily.

"It's not the one who drinks the Banrikou that becomes the new ruler, you dense, alien-girl. It's the one who has eaten the possessor's heart that will become ruler of Hell," Ivy stated seriously. "Robin is merely the vessel until the Banrikou ripens to its fullest peak which will reside in his heart. Should a demon or devil eat his heart, they will be granted power so great, Hell itself will have no choice but to submit to their will. That is why the Banrikou is so rare, it is a last resort plan, and I am sorry that this fate has befallen on you, Robin."

Speedy saw everyone falling deathly quiet. They really were buying this? "Are you serious? Devils, eating Robin's heart so they can be ruler of Hell?"

Ivy pointed at Robin's bandaged chest. "I think that wound is proof enough."

"We're attacked by monsters all the time. It's bound for one of them to get a lucky bite or claw slash on us here and there," Speedy said offhandedly.

"Don't believe in demons, huh?" Ivy deadpanned.

Speedy crossed his arms. "Not really."

"Oh yeah?" Raven stepped up to Speedy and yanked off her hood.

Everyone screamed when a mass of horror hissed and howled from where Raven's head should have been. Speedy nearly soiled himself and he cringed away, hiding behind Starfire. "Okay! Okay! I believe!"

Raven put her hood back on. "Don't forget it..."

"…That's going to haunt me to the day I die," Speedy shivered, cringing against Starfire's frame, who patted his head.

Ivy sighed. "Let's get back to the matter at hand. Your leader is on a clock, a very short clock."

Raven whipped around. "How is it you know about the Banrikou? For that matter, what do you know about demons and the Black Throne?"

"That is my business. For now, just know that I'm not thrilled that the Banrikou has been misused like this. And to my best customer to less," Ivy replied, sounding slightly disgruntled.

Raven frowned, this girl knew too much about what was going on. But right now they had to deal with Robin's condition. "Okay, so how do we reverse its effects? What's the cure?"

Ivy tilted her head. "Pardon?"

"The cure. How do we save Robin from being killed by the Banrikou," Raven said.

"Oh…That's the thing. There is no cure. The Banrikou is only supposed to be used once and on someone willing to give up their life. It can't be undone," Ivy replied casually with that calm smile.

Robin slumped on the edge of the bed. "…Then that attack I had was just the beginning."

"Attack?" Raven repeated.

"When I stopped halfway out to where Kardiak was attacking that playground…I had something like a heart attack. I thought I was gonna die right there," Robin admitted to everyone.

Ivy stiffened slightly. "That is not good. I was hoping at least a week or two before the poisoning effect of the Banrikou began. It can only mean your will was completely against accepting the elixir. Damn that fool!"

"Wait, you know who did this? The man that poisoned, Robin?" Raven said suspiciously, readying to subdue Ivy.

Ivy felt the intent rising off in Raven and she chuckled. "Cute, but don't try it. If you attacked me, you will fail miserably. You're not strong enough to take me on."

"Wanna bet…" Raven growled lowly, her eyes starting to shimmer.

Robin jumped out of bed and got in between the two girls. "Don't! I saw her take down Kardiak with just a finger tap…No telling what she really is capable."

Raven did not look like she was going to back down. She was angry from all the stress and frustration and the fear that was continually growing inside her, and it was starting to too much for her to control, and for a rare moment in her life, she didn't want to keep it back. Some of the beds in the Infirmary were starting to shake and the pillows started to rip slowly up, like claws cutting into the fabric. Starfire, seeing this, thought to try and play pacifist and calm Raven down.

"Please, friend Raven, we cannot lose focus on what is really important. Robin's life is in danger and we must find a cure."

In a flash of dark fury, Raven switched her targets and pounced on Starfire, grabbing her by the front of her shirt and slapping her across the face as hard as she could. The blow was stronger than Starfire would have ever thought her friend possible. It was hard enough that she might actually bruise from the strike. Looking back at her friend, she was really not surprised when she saw the fury in the empath's eyes, but she was by the tears that were starting to fall down them.

"You damn bitch," Raven said heavily, balling her fist tighter around Starfire's top. "After what you've done…This is your fault just as much as it is Ivy's!"

"M-my fault?" Starfire replied, confused.

Raven roared in her face. "Yes! You and your affair with Speedy! Robin would not have been a potential candidate for that stranger if he wasn't in such an emotional state!"

Starfire tried to break her friend's grip, her own anger starting to rise, but Raven's arm wouldn't respond to her alien strength. Raven shook her and shocked everyone when she lifted the redhead up off the ground just as her eyes turned red and another pair of them appeared over her brow. "You had his love! You had everything and yet you dashed it aside for a fucking fling with limp bow there?"

Starfire struggled. "Raven, please! Calm down! I did not intend to hurt Robin!"

"No, you just meant to use him until you got bored," Raven hissed darkly. "...You had the best thing in the world. Something I could only dream of ever having…"

"Raven?" Robin whispered as a realization started to dawn.

Beast Boy felt extremely hurt by Raven's declaration. He thought all this time he and Raven had something together. To hear her admit that she's secretly desire Robin all this time, was a like a blow to his spirit. Cyborg was not too surprised as he only had a slight frown on. He always suspected Raven may have had feelings for Robin, just wasn't sure how deep. Ivy watched on with utter amusement…eating a bag of popcorn. Where she had gotten it was an utter mystery that is it would be if anyone actually noticed she was eating it. Robin was the most taken by the news. He had no idea how Raven really felt. To him, he always assumed they had a sibling-like relationship as she had with Cyborg.

The odd silence among them might have carried on had Speedy not reminded everyone that he was still there. "So you had the hots for Robin, and only now that he's dying you are admitting you like him? Wow, Aqualad was right. You are dark."

"Not helping, man," Cyborg uttered and slapped the archer upside the head, knocking him off his feet. "Okay, we're getting out of hand here. I can understand you Raven for wanting to throttle Starfire. But right now we all gotta get it together."

"Cyborg's correct," Ivy said, finishing off the last bit of her popcorn and licking the butter of her fingers. "There are two very urgent things we must prepare for."

"Two? I thought there was only one?" Robin said.

"There is the poisoning of the Banrikou in your system, Robin…and the allure that it will have on every single demon within a hundred yards of you," Ivy alerted them.

Beast Boy's eyes grew as terror filled them. "Demons? Like Raven's dad? Those kind of demons?"

Raven snarled some at Beast Boy's tactless thinking, but remained silent when Ivy responded to Beast Boy's brainless remark.

"Worse than the half-blood's sire. There are demons worse and far more dangerous than Trigon the Terrible."

The entire team stared at Ivy.

"How…do you know my father" Raven said quietly, but it seemed more as an order than a question, quickly letting go of Starfire who floated away as soon as her grip loosened, coughing harshly as air finally flowed freely through her near-crushed windpipe.

Ivy continued to toy with the beads around her sword. "I'm aware of many things, Raven. Trigon's fool-hearty attempt to make earth his own personal hell. That wouldn't have lasted, even if your team lost to him. He would have been dealt with accordingly by other powers eventually."

"Trigon is not a demon to take lightly. His power was massive," Raven retorted. She wasn't trying to defend her father. Far from it. She still despised the bastard with her entire being, but she was not going to deny the truth. He was her father and he was extremely powerful. It was only by the support of her friends…and the courage of Robin…that showed her that she was stronger than him. For a demon to be stronger than him…more than her? What kind of danger was Robin going to be in?

"As much as many in your life may have led you to believe. Trigon is not the most powerful. He was just an extremely powerful demon, but compare to the denizens of Hell who will be coming after Robin. He'd be a pale, sick pup to the real dogs of war we will be facing," Ivy stated.

Starfire stepped up, rubbing her sore and now bruising throat. "We will stop them. We have faced impossible odds before."

Ivy started to laugh but it held no humor in it and she went right up to Starfire and patted her cheek as one would a simple child. "You really have no idea what horrors are lining up right now, you silly alien."

Starfire batted the hand away. "We will not surrender Robin to demons."

"But you'd surrender his heart in favor of your lust for another man? How can you state you can defend him when you cannot defend yourself from your own groin?" Ivy retorted with that unamused smile plastered on her face, slapping her just ever so slightly on the last pat.

Starfire flinched back and charged her eyes, ready to blast the swordswoman with her eyebeams. Ivy was not threatened in the least. Her smile expression never wavered, almost daring Starfire to actually attack her, then pressed on. "Raven was right, Starfire. You were the cause of all this. Robin would have been ignored in favor for some other disheartened mortal with bad luck. Your cheating was the catalyst for Robin's despair and now, he is paying for your sins."

The energy in Starfire's eyes died, replaced with tears as she started backing away from everyone. "I…I did not mean for this…"

"No mortal thinks about the consequences of their actions. That is the curse of mankind," Ivy said sagely, then dismissed Starfire entirely. "Now enough of these trivial matters. There are far more important things we must face. For instance the impending demonic raid that will befall this city."

Any personal issues they team had among themselves was brought to an instant halt. Robin, growing paler than he's ever had, spoke up with voice barely above a whisper. "…You mean…because of me, the Banrikou in my heart…this city is going to be overrun by demons?"

Ivy nodded sympathetically. "I'm afraid so. This is why I am involving myself in this matter. It is too important to ignore."

"Then we get Robin out of the city. Relocate him somewhere else they won't find him. Maybe Bludhaven or back in Gotham where Batman can help us," Beast Boy suggested.

Ivy shook her head firmly. "It would not matter where Robin is. The Banrikou gives off an aura and a scent that draws demons to it. They will follow it no matter where he goes."

Cyborg had a critical expression, growing grimmer and grimmer by the second as he took in all the information. "…So this Banrikou is centered in Robin's heart, right?"

"I believe I had explained that clearly," Ivy retorted.

Cyborg held up a hand. "Here me out, please. If this Banrikou is poisoning Robin and drawing demons to him…we need to get rid of both."

Raven stared at Cyborg in disbelief. Had he gone insane or had he given up on Robin like Starfire had. Did he have to literally have his heart ripped out of him now by his own friends? Before Raven could fly into a flurry of rage, Robin, how had noted Raven's reaction, quickly grasped her shoulder. "…Let's hear him out. I don't think Cyborg would suggest something like this unless he had a good solution."

Cyborg gave Raven a apologetic look. "Sorry that came out wrong. But here's what I'm thinking. Robin's heart is pretty much killing him, right? The Banrikou-thing is gonna be like catnip to every demon. So we gotta fix it so Robin lives and we get rid of the Banrikou. So why don't we give Robin a heart transplant?"

"A heart transplant?" Raven sighed in relief.

Cyborg tapped his chest. "I don't have a real heart anymore. If need be and we cannot find a suitable heart for Robin. I can build him one. We take out the infected heart and destroy it once it's removed and solve both problems." He then turned to Ivy. "Would that work?"

Ivy pondered for a moment. "It's never been done. I cannot be sure that will work…but I really do not see any alternative. Robin's heart is the lure, so if we can separate the lure from him, then his life may be spared."

Cyborg punched his fist into his opened hand. "All right! We got something to go on! Raven, Beast Boy! I need you two to start getting in contact with every hospital in the city for a heart that can be transplanted. I'm gonna go ahead and stare working on building a replacement heart for Robin, just in case there isn't one."

Having a plan the three got to work, that is until Speedy spoke back up. "What do you want Starfire and me to do?"

They received a rough response from Cyborg. "You are going back to Titans East. Bumblebee will deal with you. As for you, Starfire…you've done enough."

Starfire watched as the team turned away without another word, dismissing her all at once as Ivy had and left to get to work on saving Robin's life. Starfire was crestfallen. Did she truly ruin everything? She tried to look for comfort from Robin, but he would not look at her, his eyes downcast to the floor. Ivy tapped her shoulder and pointed to the door. "The exit is there…I suggest you use it before you are made to use it."

"I do not respond to threats," Starfire replied.

"No, you misunderstand," Ivy said with a sweet, deadly smile. "It is not a threat…it's a promise."

A fearful weight appeared in Starfire's chest. The danger she promised was too real and Starfire was sure if she challenged Ivy…she would not be the victor. Bowing her head, Starfire started for the exit, but as she was leaving, a hand took hold of her shoulder and she looked to see Speedy at her side. "Come on…They don't need you here. I do. Come to Titans East with me."

"…B-but my team. They still will need my support," Starfire said.

Speedy grunted and shot a glare and sneer at Ivy. "They got enough help. We don't need to waste any more time pretending. It's finally just us…"

Starfire understood Speedy was just trying to help, but what she had just done, she would never be forgiven and she would knew to her dying day, she will never forgive herself. Taking hold of Speedy's hand, they left together silently. Watching them leave was Robin, gritting his teeth. The pain that stabbed at his heart was so great, he almost begged for the Banrikou to give him another heart attack. It would be far less painful than the kind that was attacking it now.

Ivy watched the sorrow wash over Robin's face. The mask hid no mystery to her. She could read him as easily as if he did not have it on. She knew how much he was suffering now, and she truly felt bad…that his agony was only going to get worse. _'Why couldn't the Banrikou be left unused…why couldn't things just be left as they were. Whatever the case, I will fix this…nothing else could happen now that could make this situation worse now.'_

**xXx**


End file.
